National security and space solutions company, Voyager Technologies, has announced a new mission management agreement with Icarus Robotics to test-fly the zero-gravity robot ‘Joy’ on its maiden mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
According to an email sent to The Debrief, the upcoming flight, dubbed ‘Joyride,’ has been scheduled for early 2027, offering the team at Voyager just under a year to prepare the mission’s payload integration, safety certification, launch coordination, and on-orbit operations. Once aboard the ISS, Voyager will support real-time testing of Joy, including a significant number of new capabilities that are unavailable on the ISS’s Astrobee legacy zero-gravity robotic platform.
“Voyager is managing everything from launch coordination to real-time mission support, something we’ve done across 1,400+ missions, and it’s a strong signal of just how much commercial demand for space access has grown,” the company told The Debrief.
In that same email, a company spokesperson noted that the Joyride management contract underscores the continued commercial market demand for opportunities in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and serves as a “tangible, early milestone for Icarus as an autonomous space robotics startup.”
What are the key similarities and differences between Joy and Astrobee?
The Debrief has previously covered the zero-gravity Astrobee robotics platform that is currently serving aboard the ISS. This included highlighting some of the utilitarian benefits that a free-flying robot can offer to support astronaut operations in the microgravity environment of LEO.
When asked by The Debrief about the differences between Joy and Astrobee, Ethan Barajas, Co-Founder & CEO of Icarus Robotics, noted that “their core purpose” of maximizing astronaut productivity is the same.
“Both platforms are designed to take over mundane, simple tasks and free up astronaut time for more valuable work,” Barajas explained. “Both are also free-flying IVA (Intelligent Virtual Agent) robots specifically designed to operate inside the pressurized volume of the ISS, navigating in microgravity without fixed rails or tracks.”
Still, the company’s co-founder noted, Joy has been designed with several “key differences” compared to Astrobee, including significant improvements in “manipulation capabilities and purpose.”
For example, the company co-founder noted that Astrobee had “limited manipulation,” with a single perching arm and a second, experimental arm. In contrast, Joy boasts a pair of 7DOF (degrees of freedom) arms with “greater dexterity and manipulation capabilities.”
“More broadly, Astrobee was a science experimentation platform and aide for extremely basic tasks, primarily utilizing cameras and sensors without actively engaging with its environment,” Barajas concluded. “Joy is a commercial product that builds on Astrobee’s work to take on a greater variety of tasks and enable a commercially viable robotic labor force for space.”
What tests will Joy perform during its initial flight?
There is still a lot of planning and preparation before Joy takes its Joyride to the ISS. However, Icarus Robotics’ CO-Founder and CTO Jamie Palmer told The Debrief that they are already scripting the zero-gravity robot’s first moves.
“The initial flight will validate Joy’s nominal functions, including motion primitives (free-flying, single-arm, bimanual) and sensing modalities (IMU, visual-inertial, depth, perception),” Palmer explained.
The Icarus Robotics CTO said that Joy’s maiden mission will include CTB (cargo transfer bag) transport and unpacking operations, interface board manipulation, including tests with “electrical connectors, velcro, quarter-turns, fasteners, switches, and buttons.” Palmer also noted that Joy will attempt a science experiment setup “via tool pickup and handoff,” as well as a series of human-robot interaction safety tests.
Operating in All Three Flight Modes
When asked if the company’s zero-gravity robot will operate under human control or perform tests autonomously, Palmer told The Debrief that Joy will ultimately operate in “all three modes.”
For example, during this initial year-long deployment to the ISS, the free-flying robot will be teleoperated from Earth by human controllers. Palmer said that this level of direct control is needed to gather accurate telemetry data in microgravity that will be used to train an autonomous model.
“(This) is possible by piggybacking off the ISS’s existing connectivity infrastructure,” Palmer explained.
Although fully autonomous flights are likely slated for future missions, Palmer told The Debrief that, depending on data-collection timelines, they will give Joy some degree of autonomy, “creating our first hybrid system.”
When discussing the company’s long-term goals for their zero-gravity robotic platform, Palmer said Icarus envisions a “fleet of autonomous robots” capable of operating in isolation or on collaborative efforts.
“For example, a Joy robot stationed on a satellite to perform inspections and maintenance,” the Icarus CTO explained.
When asked if Joy will operate outside of the ISS during this deployment, Palmer told The Debrief, “The robot will remain inside the station for the entirety of the mission.” However, he also added, “EVAs are on our timeline for future missions.”
Maximizing the Most Valuable Labor Time in History
When asked about the significance of the Joyride mission, Barajas pointed to the cost of astronaut labor, which is estimated at $130,000 and hour. However, he adds, even though the human labor is severely constrained in space, the majority of that time is spent on “mundane, routine tasks.”
“The most valuable lab labor time in history is being spent on hoovering and moving cargo bags,” Barajas quipped.
When discussing Joy’s future, Barajas noted that after the ISS is decommissioned, an event planned for some time around 2031, succeeding commercial platforms will need to be profitable.
“Without full government backing, the case for cheaper robotic labor alternatives becomes much stronger,” he explained.
“Icarus is Building the Robotic Labor Force for Space”
When discussing his company’s role in alleviating the space labor bottleneck, Barajas said that “Icarus is building the robotic labor force for space to address these challenges: reduce the second critical barrier to space (after launch), and enable the commercial LEO economy’s buildout and exponential growth.”
When discussing the role of Voyager Technologies in helping an up-and-coming company like Icarus navigate the costs and complexities of testing their zero-gravity robotic platform in space, Voyager’s president of Space, Defense & National Security, Matt Magaña, said this is simply what they do.
“Whether an established company or a new innovative startup, this is exactly what our mission management as a service is built for – helping companies move from ideas to proven flight heritage,” Magaña said. “Icarus Robotics represents the next generation of space builders and provides the turnkey solution for those seeking reliable, flight-proven access to space.”
As for Barajas, who said that Voyager offered him his “first real look at spaceflight” as a participant in the company’s NASA HUNCH program when he was still in high school, the Jotride mission has an extra personal component.
“It is very full circle to return the favor and deliver a robotic platform to help make the ISS and future commercial stations like Starlab smarter–autonomous, free-flying, and ready to operate where humans can’t easily go,” he said.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.